Breaking Down Buehrle, Peavy And Danks

Offensively, the Chicago White Sox should have plenty of fire power to compete for the division title. But with big seasons by some of the starting pitchers, the White Sox could be thinking bigger.

Scott Merkin, of MLB.com, joined Hub Arkush on 670 The Score to talk about three White Sox starters who will play big roles for the team this season.

Merkin On Mark Buehrle:
“The thing with Mark Buehrle, is that Mark Buehrle doesn’t take very long to get ready in spring training. He’s always joked that he can make one or two starts and he’ll be ready. He was good throwing live [batting practice]…but pretty much so is everyone. I’m not sure if you can even judge him too much in spring training games because he’s been there long enough where he’s just out there working on things. I think with Mark Buehrle you pretty much know what you’re going to get within a shade of, you know, a win or two or a loss or two or a couple of ERA points here and there. You know he’s going to give you 200 innings, 30 starts. He’s going to win anywhere from 12 to 16 games and keep you in pretty much every ball game that he starts.”

Merkin On Jake Peavy:
“The only one who knows about Jake, truly, I guess the only people who really know are Jake, maybe [team trainer] Herm Schneider and the doctors…It’s amazing that he’s out there throwing and looking as good as he does after the surgery that he had and the injury he had…He’s looked good. The thing that’s impressed me is that Jake’s one of those guys who basically is going to run through a wall to get out there and pitch and contribute to the team, but he’s had great perspective throughout this whole thing in that if he’s not there opening day or if he’s not there the first two or three starts, so be it. He wants to be there in September, and what the hope is October…So it’s not a matter of proving a point for Jake, it’s more a matter of being ready for the whole season and making sure he’s 100% when he comes back.”

Merkin On John Danks:
“In terms of John Danks, I think he’s moving towards elite status. He had a great season last year.”